PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Wisconsin softball team picked up another pair of wins on Saturday afternoon, blanking Rutgers, 5-0, before earning a 9-1 win in the second game of a doubleheader at the Rutgers Softball Complex.
 
Game One
It was a déjà vu start for the Badgers as freshman Peyton Bannon hit a leadoff solo home run to give UW a 1-0 lead.  Bannon did the exact same thing in Friday's game against the Scarlet Knights.
 
The Badgers, held off from another run until the fifth inning, found themselves with a runner on second with only one out. Capitalizing on an error, Lauren Foster plated Alyssa McClelland to send the Badgers up 2-0. Later on in the inning, Christaana Angelopulos hit a single to right scoring Foster's pinch runner Gabby Altobelli.
 
The sixth inning was another two-run inning for Wisconsin. With two lead off singles from Skylar Sirdashney and Ally Miklesh, McClelland hit a base hit to right to score Sirdashney, with Miklesh scoring while the Scarlet Knights attempted to catch McClelland in a run-down on the bases.
 
Wisconsin pitcher Haley Hestekin sealed the win for the Badgers in the circle. The senior pitched her second complete shut out of the season, going all seven innings with four strikeouts, two walks and zero earned runs.
 
Other offensive contributions came from Megan Donahue, who recorded a hit in the sixth, and Abby Herbst, who drew two walks.
 
Game Two
UW got off to a fast start in game two, scoring three in the first inning. Herbst launched a double into left field to plate Bannon to give UW a 1-0 lead. After loading the bases, Fiona Girardot scored after Angelopulos was hit by a pitch, doubling the UW advantage. Sirdashney hit an RBI single into left field to plate pinch runner Sylvia Flairty to give UW a 3-0 lead.

The Badgers extended the lead to 5-0 in the top of the second as Girardot doubled to left, scoring Bannon and Miklesh.

After giving up a run to Rutgers in the bottom of the second, UW tacked on two more runs in the top of the fourth as Girardot and Morgan Kummer both touched home plate, giving the Badgers a 7-1 lead.

Girardot and Angelopulos hit solo home runs in the top of the fifth and sixth, respectively, to put the game out of reach for Rutgers.

Maddie Schwartz picked up her team-high sixth win, pitching the first three innings while striking out six before Ava Justman pitched the final three innings, striking out a pair Scarlet Knights.
 
Batting Cleanup
- The Badgers have now won six of their last seven games dating back to last weekend's series against Iowa.
- UW has outscored Rutgers 22-1 so far this weekend and have five home runs during the series.
-  Wisconsin earned its third run-rule win of the year thanks to its 9-1 win in the second game of the double header.  
- Since the start of the Iowa series, Girardot is hitting .556 with 10 hits, six of which have been for extra bases.

Up Next
UW wraps up its series with Rutgers with a 10 a.m. CT game on Sunday. Fans can watch the game live on Big Ten Network+.